IMPROVING SKILLS IN PRODUCT DESIGN: EXPLORING SOLUTION SPACE AND THE IMPACT OF APPLIED MENTAL SCALING
Year: 2015
Editor: Guy Bingham, Darren Southee, John McCardle, Ahmed Kovacevic, Erik Bohemia, Brian Parkinson
Author: Skulberg, Harald
Series: E&PDE
Institution: Institute of Design, The Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO), Norway
Section: Problem Based Learning
Page(s): 494-499
ISBN: 978-1-904670-62-9
Abstract
This paper explores how mental scaling may constitute a creative tool in product design education, in
order to improve design solutions through different methodological approaches. The increasing
expectations from industry on optimization within product design are clearly evidenced today. These
demands are often defined by specific user groups or corporate product managers, putting a pressure
on designer’s propositions. How can we as educators prepare our students for these requirements? In a
real-life product design project, the creativity potential is reflected through a requirement specification
framing a certain solution space which the design has to comply with. In academia, our challenge is to
encourage our students to question the rigidity and limitations given by this requirement specification
and its inherent solution space. Experience gained from practicing design methods enable design
students into building sufficient courage and self-awareness in order to challenge this creativity
potential. Our experience from teaching design methods indicates that practicing mental scaling - or
mental elasticity - enables the students to do so. When applied to a design project, the ability to
mentally fluctuate between abstraction and concretization builds a thematic divergence which
generates an open and sensitive mind-set. This mind-set enables the student to utilize this creativity
potential through individual procedural diversity. These abilities have been observed and assessed
through practical assessments. The thematic divergence in these practical exercises has produced a
valuable body of experience, which contributes to articulate a firmer understanding of the effect of
these methodological approaches.
Keywords: Product design, design methodology, solution space, mental scaling, procedural diversity